People flying Vistara’s last Mumbai-Delhi and Delhi-Singapore flight tonight will be the last ones to travel with the airline as it fulfills its operational integration with Air India.
The last domestic flight, UK 986, departs Mumbai for Delhi at 10:50 p.m., while UK 115 to Singapore is at 11:45 p.m. “It’s a mixed feeling. There are mixed feelings at Vistara because of joining Air India, but Vistara was our brand, and it is always special,” a Vistara official remarked.
Starting with the services from January 9, 2015, Vistara has carved a niche in the Indian market as one of the most customer-friendly full-service carriers. When it began, it deployed a full-service model and brought in new features like the first “Premium Economy” class in India. This ranking has given Vistara a distinct competitive advantage because it established the firm as a premium airline brand in the industry.
As the merger process starts, Air India is working on its strategies to do minimal damage to the passengers traveling on Vistara. An Air India spokesperson said there are “multiple layers of measures being put in place to ensure the customer experience as Vistara branded integration with Air India begins from November 12, 2024.” It appears the transition plan has been in the works for some time, as Air India announced on September 3 this year that it would not be accepting bookings for post-merger travel with Vistara.
In the first month after the merger, it is expected that about 115,000 passengers who hold pre-merger Vistara tickets will be flying under the Air India brand. These flights will be operated with the Vistara brand but with new AI two-digit number codes to distinguish them from existing AI-operated flights; for example, UK 955 will become AI 2955.
This operational integration is important in Air India’s strategic growth plan because it swallows Vistara’s aircraft, destinations, and customer base.
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